Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 18, 2026

Acanthobdellidea

Acanthobdellidea is an infraclass of primitive leeches; some authors place them in a separate subclass from the Hirudinea. However, the World Register of Marine Species places them within the Hirudinea, as a sister group to Euhirudinea, the true leeches.

Last revised
Jul 18, 2026
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Acanthobdellidea
Acanthobdella peledina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Clade: Pleistoannelida
Clade: Sedentaria
Class: Clitellata
Subclass: Hirudinea
Infraclass: Acanthobdellidea

Acanthobdellidea is an infraclass of primitive leeches; some authors place them in a separate subclass from the Hirudinea.1 However, the World Register of Marine Species places them within the Hirudinea, as a sister group to Euhirudinea, the true leeches.2

Species in the group include Acanthobdella peledina, described by the German zoologist Adolph Eduard Grube in 1851,3 and A. livanowi, described in 1966.4

References

References

  1. Siddall, Mark E.; Burreson, Eugene M. (1996). "Leeches (Oligochaeta?: Euhirudinea), their phylogeny and the evolution of life-history strategies". Hydrobiologia. 334 (1–3): 277–285. doi:10.1007/bf00017378. S2CID 21736028.
  2. Kolb, Jürgen (2018). "Hirudinea". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  3. Kolb, Jürgen (2018). "Acanthobdella peledina Grube, 1851". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  4. Kolb, Jürgen (2018). "Acanthobdella livanowi (Epshtein, 1966)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 7 May 2018.